Frontline care for people in crisis
It’s pressurised on the front line of crisis care. We understand that you have to deal with very difficult situations under a lot of pressure.
But we know from our inquiry, there are lots of small, simple things you can do.
What did people say?
People who had been in crisis said staff can:
- Use their ability to be warm and compassionate. It can change someone’s life. Forever.
- It’s the personal touches that can matter most.
- A kind word, a small gesture or simply a smile can make the world of difference to someone in crisis.
What can staff on the frontline can do?
Using your skills, you can empower your patients on their journey to recovery by:
- involving then in planning their care
- listening to them and learning from their experiences
We believe, and our inquiry shows, that acute and crisis care can be excellent. Everywhere. For everyone.
Read our recommendations
To give people the care they need and deserve we need to concentrate on four key areas:
Humanity
- Share something of yourself in interactions with people using your service – not all your problems, but enough of your life to engage on an ordinary human level.
- Know who people are, acknowledge them by name, and ask them how they are.
- Provide introductory information about the crisis team members who are most likely to visit a person at home.
- Try and ensure continuity of contact – not different people visiting individuals at home.
- Provide different means for people to contact your team – for example, telephone, text for a call-back, email, ring and walk-in between certain hours of the day.
- Make proactive contact with the people you are worried about.
- Make commitments – such as going for a walk with someone or having a one-to-one – that you can keep.
- When someone comes into hospital in an emergency, unless it is really impossible, let them pack a bag.
- Make sure you can provide toiletries and a change of clothes for those who need them.
- Check everyone is getting good and varied food they can enjoy.
- Celebrate birthdays and personalise care – tap any sources you can for presents.
- Take inpatients’ concerns about security of belongings seriously.
- Review how inpatients’ things are looked after while they are on short-term leave and someone else is in their room.
- Test your practice against standards based on recovery and service user feedback.
- Commit to working in non-violent ways and use de-escalation techniques first.
- Help look after the care/working environment so that people feel cared for too.
Commissioning for people’s needs
- Investigate reverse commissioning (see p.33 f the report).
- Look beyond the mainstream service for community resources that might help you better meet the needs of the people you are working with.
Choice and control
- Proactively tell service users about advocacy and encourage them to access it.
- Trust what people tell you they need.
- Ensure the people you work with have copies of their own care plans and that what they most want healthcare staff to know is at the top.